How to Organize Your Life (with 7 Simple Habits)

Organization is key if you want to: 1. accomplish your goals 2. keep your shit together & 3. achieve a healthy work-life balance. I’m pretty Type A and am obsessed with to-do lists, spreadsheets, my calendar, and other organizational tools that more relaxed people might find to be boring AF. I’ve tried to calm down my Type A tendencies over the years because they can be overwhelming to people. After a while, you have to learn to accept who you are though. So I decided instead of suppressing my “Type A” ways, I should share them instead. Which is why I’m sharing my tips & tricks with you all: How to organize your life with 7 essential habits.

How to Organize Your Life

Starting to organize your life is easier than you think. I feel like when people think of getting organized, it can be incredibly overwhelming.

You might think there are a million things to do and you’re nowhere near where you need to be.

I’m a firm believer that to organize your life, you should start small. Take a few steps here and there that make you feel more in control of your time.

Staying organized has always come naturally to me, so I wanted to share some tips I’ve picked up over the years. Below, I’ll share the best habits and free resources that I use on a daily/weekly basis.

How Do You Begin to Organize Your Life?

I’m guessing there are a few types of people reading this article:

1. Beginners who are just getting started in their organizational journey
2. People who have tried out a few tips & tricks, but haven’t found what actually works for them
3. Type A people like me, who will read anything they can get their hands on about organizing your life 😂

If you’re in one of those first 2 categories, I’m happy you’re getting started with this. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere. No one is born having their life together and everyone always has something new to learn.

I’ve tried out just about everything when it comes to organization/productivity by now. So I wanted to share some of the easiest habits and resources I’ve found to get more organized. Let’s get into it.

1. Use Google Keep (for everything)

This might be my favorite app of all time, I’m not going to lie. Who knew digital sticky notes could be so satisfying?

I keep literally everything in here. My grocery list, random thoughts throughout the day, places to go in Tampa, inspiration, content ideas, and more.

It’s a simple way to keep anything and everything in one place in an organized list format. You can even create categories (or labels) for different types of sticky notes.

If you’re anything like me – if you don’t write something down, there’s a 99.9% chance you’re going to forget it. This app is a must-have.

I keep it on my phone and as a bookmark on my laptop, so I can access it anytime I need to jot something down.

2. Color Coordinate the Shit Out of Your Google Calendar

I swear this post isn’t sponsored by Google. 😂 I just honestly think Google has some of the best free resources for organizing your life.

Another must-have app (or bookmark on your computer) is Google Calendar. I’ve tried a bunch of online calendars and none of them hit the same as this one.

If you’re a visual person like me, you’ll probably love it just as much as I do. I have my calendar color coordinated into different categories, to easily see what’s on the agenda for the day/week with a quick glance.

My Categories

• Appointments
• 9-5 Work
• Travel
• Events
• VV: Blog
• VV: Admin
• VV: Instagram
• VV: YouTube
• VV: Events

You obviously don’t need to categorize yours like mine – but make it whatever works for you.

If you want to schedule out time for a new workout routine, create an exercise category. If you want to start cooking at home more, block off time for that. If you have kiddos, make a category for them.

It’s completely versatile and can easily be based on your life and priorities.

3. Experiment with Notion Outlines

I just discovered Notion last year and it’s a Type A person’s wet dream. Sorry to be gross, but it’s true.

It’s hard to explain Notion because you need to experience it to believe it. Basically, you can organize anything and everything into one place, with a bunch of different pre-made templates.

This website/app gives you a ton of flexibility and you can really make whatever you want out of it.

I use mine to organize my content outlines, research, journal, and even a cycle syncing tips section. I’ve used it for other things on & off, but this is my current spread.

As I said, you have to see it to fully understand, so check it out here if you’re interested. It’s also free, so you’ve got nothing to lose.

4. Keep a Physical Weekly Planner

So far, all of my tips have been for different apps & websites. But I’m actually more of a “write things down” type of person.

I love having things on my phone because I can take them with me anywhere I go. But there’s a different type of satisfaction when you check an item off of your written to-do list.

I always keep a physical planner (I’ve used these ones before and loved them) in addition to my Google Calendar. While I use Google Calendar for all of my appointments, work shifts, events, etc., I use my physical planner more for to-do lists, workout routines, and goals.

Here’s an example of what a few days in my planner looks like:

I also keep a section for the workouts I want to get done that week (and highlight them once I do them) and my weekly VV to-do list.

I keep my planner open on my desk 24/7, so I can’t go a day without seeing it. It keeps me accountable to the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the week.

5. Utilize 168-Hour Trackers

If you haven’t yet read 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam, I’d highly recommend it before starting this habit.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this book changed my entire mindset on time management. I’ve always been a productive person and love checking things off my to-do list. But as many of us can relate to, I always feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

Reading this book and starting to use Vanderkam’s 168-hour printouts made me realize just how many hours I actually have to spare. Most of which I accidentally waste binging Netflix.

I break up my sheet into categories, which all coincide with a certain color of highlighter. (I bought this pack of mini highlighters to use.)

My categories include:

• social
• relationship
• exercise/walks
• Vitality Vixens
• 9-5
• sleep
• spiritualality/personal development
• household chores

Here’s an example of how a week might look 👇 (I messed up which day of the week I wanted to start on, so ignore the messy crossed-out weekdays.)

After the week’s over, I break down how much time I’m spending in each category. That way, I can figure out how to better use my time in future weeks.

For example, I spent way too much time in the “me time” category last week because I got into a new show. Have y’all seen Inventing Anna?! No regrets.

Since I finished the show now, I want to spend my time in more productive ways next week.

P.S. This isn’t something I do every week by any means. That would drive most people crazy. I just draw these sheets in my bullet journal when I feel like I’m not using my time well and could use a little accountability.

6. Write Monthly, Weekly and Daily to-do lists

For a more Type B person, to-do lists for every possible time frame might seem a little excessive, right? But hear me out…

I start by coming up with goals for the month ahead that are in line with my BIG goals. If you’re interested in how to set big goals for your life and break them down into sustainable steps, check out my article on it here.

Once I have my monthly goals set (which takes about 15-20 minutes, I use these each week to come up with weekly goals. Which I sprinkle throughout the week into my daily goals.

Here’s an example:

One of my BIG goals is to replace my full-time income with money from the blog.

If I’m being realistic (which is a struggle for me at times 😉), I know that’s not going to happen in the next month. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t set goals every month to move one step closer to that big goal.

A few of my monthly goals for March are to reach out to 10 brands that I’d like to potentially work with, post on Instagram at least once a week, and post on Pinterest every day. (I’m reaching out to 10 brands because you get rejected a lot, not because I actually want to be working with 10 brands at once.)

These goals are all small steps towards my big goal of making a full-time income from my blog.

When I come up with my weekly goals, I base them on my monthly goals. So a weekly goal could be to reach out to 3 brands.

To break this down even further into daily goals: I’ll add “reach out to 1 brand” to my to-do list on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

By the end of the month, I’ll have easily accomplished all of my monthly goals because I broke them down into realistic portions.

7. Allow Time for Relaxation

You didn’t expect to see this one on here, did you?

While I love being productive and knocking out my to-do list (a little too much), I also can’t understate the importance of R&R. If you don’t take regular time to relax and rest, you’ll get burnt out fast. Believe me, I’ve been there.

When I first started VV (on top of an already stressful previous 9-5 job) all I wanted to do was work. So that’s what I did, basically nonstop.

Things were going okay for a few months and I thought in my overachieving brain that I could keep up like that forever. Boy was I wrong.

Once the burnout came, it hit me hard. I’d take entire days laying on the couch watching YouTube because honestly, I was too exhausted to do anything else.

It got to the point where I realized, working yourself to the bone isn’t sustainable (at all) and simply isn’t worth it. It’s not worth the impact on your mental and physical health and truthfully, it doesn’t get you to your goals any quicker.

How I Implement R&R Now:

Nowadays, I make time in my schedule every day to relax and do whatever the heck I want. Whether it be watching trash reality TV, reading a book, taking a walk in the park, baking donuts, or anything else my heart desires.

I’ve even gone as far as to make Sundays a work-free day. I’ll still get a few things done around the house here and there, but other than that, it’s my day to completely relax.

A year or two ago, I would’ve never thought it was possible for me to take an entire day off from work. But after trying this out for the past couple of months, I’ve realized I’m much more productive throughout the week. This is because I actually have the energy to get things done.

I also don’t feel bad about taking more time to chill during the week, even if I could always be getting more work done.

If I need an entire night off, I take it, and I don’t feel guilty anymore. That’s an amazing feeling and something that was hard to get to in our hamster wheel, productivity-obsessed culture.

How to Organize Your Life: Final Thoughts

If you only try one of these tips above, that’s a win in my book. I’ve been testing out (and failing at) new tactics for years now, so I’ve had a lot of time to find what works for me.

What I hope you get out of this: a few extra habits to organize your life in a way that makes you feel more in control of your time.

If you have any other tips you’ve heard for staying organized, drop them in the comments! I’m always looking for new ways to organize my own life. Or if you tried out a few of my tips above, let me know as well.

P.S. If you want a free printable 90-day goal-setting system or a health & fitness planner – I made both. Get them for free here.

If you want to read more time management & self-improvement articles, check these out.

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